Last year, a few months after I started back on an aromatase inhibitor - the drug I need to take for the next umpteen years to try to keep my cancer at bay (again) - I started losing ground in my toes. The nerves started buzzing, and my big toes, which had been spared in round one, started to go numb.
*sigh*
Such a "choice". To lose my sense of balance because I can't feel the ground beneath my toes, or to give my cancer a good shot at returning. I didn't care for either option, though I continued on the drug because if I'm dead, I'm pretty sure my sense of balance becomes a moot point.
My oncologist suggested I try acupuncture, to see if it might help.
I figured it definitely wouldn't hurt. I asked around, found a doctor not far away, and started seeing him back in November. When I first saw him, he sat me down, sighed at my messed up shoulders, and asked what brought me in. When he heard, he shook his head sadly and told me he MIGHT be able to help, but neuropathy is a tough one to fix.
He put me on the table and started sticking needles here and there in my lower calves and feet. (Most of the needles don't really hurt, and if they do, the pain eases after about 30 seconds.) He put heaters over me to keep me warm, and left the room, telling me to nap. When he came back thirty minutes later, he asked which foot was worse, then after taking out the existing needles, used a fresh one to lightly prick the toes on that foot. It ouched a little - but given the neuropathy, I didn't feel much.
I went home and to bed with the nerves in my feet buzzing, not sure what had hit them. When I woke up the next morning, I leaned down and tested the feeling in my toes.
Huh. The left - the one he'd pricked - definitely had a wee bit more sensation than the right. ???!!!??? I felt a stirring of hope. Maybe I wouldn't have to choose after all. Maybe he could stop the progression of damage.
I've seen him quite a bit since then - twice a week for three weeks, then once a week for the last five.
Just before Christmas I woke up one morning, got dressed, sat down to put on my socks, and felt an odd sensation beneath my toes. It was my socks! For the first time in a decade, I could feel my socks touching my toes!
For the past few weeks, I have taken a moment to stop every now and then to check in. Sure enough, every time (so far), my socks have been touching my toes. (The nerves are still buzzy; I think they're confused about what's going on.)
I wasn't sure I believed in the power of acupuncture to help. I am most relieved to know its power to help did not rely on my level of belief.
Since the aromatase inhibitor will continue to try to mess up my nerves, I do hope the power of the needles will continue to push back against the damage. It might not, but... For now, it's working.
The ability to feel my toes touching the ground is a lovely Christmas gift.
Good Is.
